The Joys of a Critique Group--When It Really, Really Fits

Last fall, I took a class at a literary center. The class was called Master Mondays--Fiction. (Please stick your snoot in the air when you say its name.) 

Peter Geye, pronounced Guy. As in Big Guy.

In this case, it really was a Master Monday's class. The teacher was Peter Geye (Safe From The Sea, The Light-house Road and a new book coming out with Knopf, which I believe is called The Winterers.) Peter isn't just an extraordinary novelist, he's also a, well, master teacher. He created a class that was respectful, thoughtful and exciting, and he lucked out with the quality of the students who joined. Though some people weren't, um, masters quite yet, the level or writing was still extremely high, and the level of critique higher yet. 

Out of this group, a few people decided to continue on our own. These are writers who not only know their strengths and weaknesses, but have spent years challenging them. They're all grownups, too, calm enough that the drama is on the page, not at the meetings. The writing, thank heavens, is terrific, and fascinating. I can't wait to read people's pages. They are that good. 

We meet again tomorrow so I'm tap-dancing around the house today. It's terrific to be around smart, caring people who love writing. Yahoo!